


Where He Was

by SkelleBonez



Category: LEGO Monkie Kid
Genre: Fluff, FreeNoodleShipping - Freeform, I don't know what to tell you this is just fluff, M/M, Romance, half of this is headcanon, mk is mentioned but isn't really here, pigsy is zhu bajie here, world's shortest slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29813064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkelleBonez/pseuds/SkelleBonez
Summary: Tang never imagined that he would end up where he was at this exact moment.
Relationships: Zhu Bajie | Pigsy (Monkie Kid)/Tang (Monkie Kid)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Main Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leonardo_Charles_BlueWood_21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leonardo_Charles_BlueWood_21/gifts).



> This was written as a birthday gift for Leonardo_Charles_BlueWood_21 and is a sequel to a prompt fill I did on my Tumblr (which is included as chapter 2) and is written mostly using headcanons that I have given context clues from the show.

Tang never imagined that he would end up where he was at this exact moment.

* * *

Thinking back on it, he supposed it started back when he had met Pigsy. The noodle shop was recently opened, not yet having the eye catching neon sign of MK's design, and he had decided to take a gamble. If the food was better than his usual lunch spot, great! And if it wasn't at least he had tried something new.

In the end the food was absolutely amazing, but that wasn't the only reason he kept coming back. After a few days of eating he started to really notice the owner, Pigsy the chef and seemingly only employee in the entire shop, and picked up on the way he just... changed in different situations. For most customers he was cordial and polite but when they were a regular he seemed to open up more and relax, showing off his gruff sense of humor and caring nature. He noticed how there seemed to be specific regulars he took the time out of his day to talk to specifically, how he had a soft spot for kids (and he would never forget the time he saw a very tired student was short on money and Pigsy just rang him up for a smaller bowl and refused to take his offer to wash dishes to pay the difference), and how when there were no other customers around he would sometimes forget Tang was still sitting in the back of the shop and he would smile in a way he just didn't around others while he prepared the ingredients for other batches of soup.

He slowly started sitting at the bar, hoping that he would work up the courage to start actually talking to him and in time he did. Maybe... _flirt_ a little for reasons he didn’t really think about too hard... He fumbled it poorly and made a fool of himself, forgetting both his own wallet and to even attempt to pay, but Pigsy had taken pity on him and asked him to come back and that soft only half exasperated and amused look on his face made the scholar flush and realize... he had indeed developed a bit of a crush on the other man.

The more time he spent in the shop the more he began to realize that it was more than a bit, but after his initial horrifically failed attempts of flirting he decided to just try befriending the pig and see how things went from there. And for the longest time this worked fabulously, the two of them growing closer and closer and he realizing that, somehow, Pigsy reminded him more than a bit of a softer Zhu Bajie of the old stories. He had managed to finish every item on the menu and even see his own playful suggestions incorporated (and he would never let Pigsy hear the end of that) as well. This had been going great... and then MK had disappeared.

He had found it odd that he hadn't seen the young man while working his extra shifts at the library in a couple days. Normally he had such a regular schedule, and Mei hadn't shown up either, but it hadn't been the first time they had skipped a day or two due to something like a new game release or the airing of a new Monkey King related show or movie. It wasn't until he had gone to the noodle shop on what should have been two days after his birthday that he realized not only had MK also been a regular of Pigsy's Noodles (and what a coincidence that the boy he had taken under his wing was not only friends with the girl who he was close family friends with and considered family herself, but all three were regulars of the same shop) but he had been coming in almost as long as Tang had on a slightly different schedule. Soon it became three days, then four, then nearly a week. Neither Pigsy or Mei had seen him at all and Tang really wished he knew where the boy lived. Pigsy had been been growing more and more worried and anxious and then one day Tang came in and he was just not worried anymore.

He had run out from behind the counter and yelled his name and _hugged him_ and said "we found him, MK's ok!" and he had never seen the other man look so relieved and angry at the same time as he started going on about how his parents had kicked him out and Pigsy had been thinking of starting a delivery service and now MK was living in the old room he didn't really use above the shop... and that was when Tang knew he didn't have a crush on Pigsy.

He'd accidentally fallen for him. 

_Completely._

He's seen MK soon after the same day, learned the whole story (and how he would love to join Pigsy for a "chat" with the then 18 year old's parents), and overtime they settled into a routine. Pigsy helped MK get his license and get used to living on his own and working, Tang came by nearly every day for noodles and to check in, Mei and MK hung out in the shop after hours, and once again things had been going so well for a few months.

Unfortunately for Tang, it seemed they could never go long without something eventful happening anymore because one day he went to work with an apartment and left work to find he didn't have one anymore. A fire, they had said, bad enough that the building needed to be demolished as soon as possible. He was lucky, he lived on the side with the least damage and most of his belongings were safe, but he had nowhere to go. He lived too far from any of his family to receive any immediate help from them and he couldn't afford to stay in hotels for very long. The only thing he could think to do was grab his laptop from his apartment and make a second trek to Pigsy's Noodles and look for any apartment listing he could afford no matter how poor quality it may be.

He didn't get very far before Pigsy frowned and said "I have a spare room at my place".

Tang had tried to argue, to turn him down, face flushing in embarrassment and unspoken " _no Pigsy you don't understand I'm in love with you I can't_ " floating just on the tip of his tongue. But the pig had grabbed his hand and held it tight before he brought him noodles he had not ordered with a smile and a whispered "you look like you need them" and he couldn't say no. So he moved in.

It was awkward for a time, getting used to a new home and having a roommate and seeing Pigsy out of his work clothes and getting to know him more and more and he shouldn't have been surprised to learn he was just as particular about his tea as he was his noodles. That was fine as Tang was as well in the same way. Soon his belongings left his room, his kitchenware were used as much as what was here and books were left on the coffee table and it felt less like a place he was staying and more like his home.

True to form something else happened, this time MK finding the _staff of the Monkey King_ of all things and really he didn't need to mull the last few months over in his mind. It had all been a whirlwind of one thing after the other but he remembered them well enough. Only one moment stood out in his mind that helped to bring him right here and now.

Less than a week prior he learned that _his_ Pigsy and _the_ Zhu Bajie were one and the same.

One minute he was on the roof of a four story building across from the noodle shop and Pigsy was Pigsy, the next he was falling and Pigsy was Not Pigsy and instead a large behemoth of a large tusked demon catching him as he plummeted to what would have been either his death or an excessively long stay in the hospital, wrapping his entire body around Tang. He’d caught him so carefully he barely even felt the jolt when he landed and made a crater in the street and he felt his heart skip once he was set down and Pigsy- no _Zhu Bajie but still Pigsy to him_ \- jumped back onto the building and punched the offending demon so hard they couldn’t even find him afterwards.

They’d sat in the noodle shop and everything was laid on the table and he took another gamble. Just like on that first day he entered Pigsy’s Noodles. He’d climbed on the table they sat at and stopped just short of kissing Pigsy, waiting to see what he would do and then he _kissed him first_ and it was awkward and they didn’t really fit together because he was so big but it was _right_.

He was such a fool to wait so long but the jolt of _something_ he felt in his chest that made him gasp was worth it. He would have waited twice as long just to feel that moment again.

They couldn’t go home, not with Pigsy as big as he was, so they waited in the shop until he could calm down enough to transform back. Talking, revealing things they felt about each other they never thought they would ever be able to admit like how Tang would just watch Pigsy while he talked to kids because he lit up and how Pigsy would listen to every story Tang told MK and his objections were just so the younger man wouldn’t catch on to his affections for the scholar.

That night was the last night Tang spent in his room alone because neither of them got a single second of sleep as they thought about the other. The first night sleeping in the same bed went much the same way, if not almost worse, their faces heated in embarrassment and disbelief that this was happening keeping them from sleeping any other way than with their backs turned to each other. But at least they eventually fell asleep.

The night after Tang chanced a second kiss as they climbed into bed, taking the lead this time. This time it was like they fit together perfectly and they couldn’t bring themselves to roll over after and eventually they kissed again and again and Tang tucked Pigsy’s head under his chin once he nodded off first and they slept more soundly than he could ever remember.

And then the next night they did the same and Pigsy transformed in his sleep and destroyed their bed and gave Tang the scare of his life.

Learning that Pigsy was apt to transform into his demon form if he was completely at ease and safe made Tang wonder exactly why he had never done this in his sleep before, but he didn’t pry. Instead he laughed softly and kissed him again through the pig’s embarrassment and insisted it was perfectly fine and actually rather sweet as ordered a much larger bed that only barely fit in multiple parts and needed the delivery team to set it up. It was so massive they could fit two of each of them in it and still have room, there was barely any floor left at all, but it would hopefully be just big enough to fit one full sized Pigsy plus one human sized Tang.

And that’s how Tang ended up where he was at that exact moment. 

Laying in a bed much too large for him but perfectly sized for them, one massive demon curled around him and purring so loud Tang could have mistaken him for a motor, both awake but unwilling to move themselves.

“I love you,” Pigsy suddenly said, almost unheard above his purrs but not missed.

“I love you too,” Tang replied, meaning it with all of his being.

He tilted his head up as Pigsy leaned further down, their lips meeting in another chaste but _right_ kiss.


	2. BONUS: The original prompt

“Listen,” Pigsy started, rubbing the back of his neck with awkward stilted movements from trying not to bump into the walls of his shop. “I haven’t exactly been truthful with you.”

He sat at a table in his noodle shop… or rather, he sat on the floor at a table in his noodle shop. His noodle shop with a chunk of the front of the entrance missing due to demon attack. He was far too tall to sit in one of his chairs and not hit the ceiling. Tang, his ever constant ~~friend~~ ~~not yet but wanted boyfriend~~ _companion_ , sat in a proper chair across from him.

“Oh really?” Tang asked with a high laugh. Pigsy would be worried that he was angry if he didn’t have this amazed and shocked smile on his face. “I never would have guessed, what with the turning twice- no, _thrice_ your size and punching another demon so hard they flew into the horizon line.” His words were increduous but his tone was just like his face. Shock and awe. “MK still can’t find him!”

That didn’t stop Pigsy, now in his full powered form that he hadn’t used since he last went by Zhu Bajie, from bowing his head in embarrassment. “I probably should have come clean a lot sooner, huh? Like when ya told me ya studied Sun Wukong and our Journey to the West…”

“Yes, you should have,” Tang agreed, reaching across the table to pat his hand (his hand was so small now, so so small compared to his and in the back of his mind he could only think _‘how have I been protecting him when he’s normally bigger than **me?’**_ ) and chuckle. “But this does explain some of your… odder interjections in my stories.”

“Hey, I was a right asshat back then and even I can admit that!” Pigsy pouted and apparently something about seeing a pout on his more intimidating face made Tang’s smile soften. “What?”

“It’s just…” Tang looked away and Pigsy could see the barest hint of a flushed tint on the tip of his ears. “You transformed to catch me. Carry me to safety. And then punch a demon in the face. And now you’re sitting here trying to apologize to me and pouting about me making you look better in my stories.” He chuckled again, raising his shoulders a bit to hide the blush forming on his cheeks. He failed miserably. “It’s… kinda cute?”

Pigsy was pretty sure he heard his own brain stop working for a second as his own face flushed a deep crimson. “W-what?”

“If we’re being honest now,” Tang continued, the hand holding Pigsy’s lacing their fingers together as best he could without looking. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Sun Wukong… but Zhu Bajie was always secretly my favorite in the stories. I guess you could say I had a bit of a crush on him.” Oh yep, yup, Pigsy’s brain was clearly not working. There was no way he was hearing this. “And I always thought you reminded me a little of him and I kinda developed a crush on you, so… I… can I do something?”

“What?” Pigsy repeated, and he froze as Tang stood from his seat. “I-I… yeah? Yes.” He had a slight idea of what he could be hinting at but he couldn’t bring himself to imagine it, there was no way…

Their hands were still clasped together as Tang climbed onto his chair and leaned forward, legs braced against the table as he placed his other hand on Pigsy’s chest. He leaned forward more and more and more and suddenly all Pigsy could see was Tang and he was _right there_. He stopped as his nose touched his snout, blush more pronounced and eyes half lidded behind his glasses.

Pigstly swallowed nervously as he felt Tang’s breath against his lips and that’s when he realized he was waiting on him. So Pigsy closed both his eyes and the distance between them.

He felt Tang gasp under his lips and lean into the kiss, putting his body weight entirely on the pig demon as a thunk was heard against the table. Maybe his legs had given out from the strained position, but Pigsy didn’t care in that moment. He held Tang’s hand firmer as he brought his free one around to lay it on Tang’s back. It was awkward, their size difference was much more exagerated in his form and the kiss was awkward and miss fitted making it completely chaste and it would have been so much better in his smaller “civilian” form.

But it just felt _right_ anyway.

Too soon Tang pulled back and Pigsy opened his eyes to see his glasses fogged and him kneeling on the table. He felt he should be angry about that but he couldn’t bring himself to be.

“Wow,” Tang breathed, taking his glasses off to see a bit better. “I… wow.”

“Yeah,” Pigsy agreed, pulling the hand on Tang’s back to his face to try to hide his blush. “Wow.”

“So I guess we’re-”

“Together?”

“Together. Wow.”

Pigsy couldn’t hold back his laughter at the third “wow” and shook his head. “I should have transformed way sooner… or just asked.”

Tang laughed softly, awkwardly clambering off the table to stand next to the sitting demon. “Or I could have back when you gave me a place to stay in your house?”

“Damn we are oblivious.”

“Yep,” Tang smiled, leaning his head against Pigsy’s shoulder and damn that felt right too. “But uh… I don’t think you’re going to fit back into said house right now.”

“I won’t fit for a while, I kinda… I’m too hyped up on adrenaline to change back still.”

“Oh really?” And this time Tang’s voice had a pleased undertone to it, one that made Pigsy laugh.

“Not because of you nerd,” he said with a shake of his head.

Yeah. This felt right.


End file.
